Suspect in St. Roch murder arrested, and other New Orleans-area police briefs

Suspect in St. Roch murder arrested, and other New Orleans-area police briefs

Police arrest suspect in St. Roch murder

New Orleans police have arrested a 31-year-old man accused of fatally shooting another man late last month in St. Roch.

Nytilex “Lex” Jones allegedly killed Samuel Kelly, 38, just before 5 p.m. on July 27 at North Derbigny and Mandeville streets.

Police arrested Jones Thursday at a home in the 2600 block of North Villere Street, just a few blocks away from where Kelly died.

Jones was booked on a count of second-degree murder.

Jones was arrested in 2008 for attempted first-degree murder, but prosecutors later dropped that charge, according to court records.

Man, 45, struck, killed on Harvey street

A 45-year-old Harvey man was killed late Thursday after a sport-utility vehicle hit him as he tried to get his wife’s glasses out of the road, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

Alvin James, his 51-year-old wife and 70-year-old father were driving south on Destrehan Avenue in Harvey when his wife leaned out of the truck about 10:15 p.m. and dropped her glasses in the 1400 block of Destrehan Avenue, said Col. John Fortunato, a sheriff’s office spokesman.

James pulled over, got out of the truck to find the glasses and was hit by a Chevrolet Suburban.

The SUV did not stop after it hit James, Fortunato said. James was pronounced dead on the scene.

About 10:40 p.m., the driver, 42-year-old Derrick Fradieu, of Marrerro returned to the scene of the collision. He told investigators he knew he hit something but did not realize it was a person.

Fradieu was booked with one count of felony hit and run and driving while intoxicated.

Roofer falls to death on West Bank

A roofer died Friday after he fell through the skylight of a West Bank business, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

Ross Breaux, 27, of Covington and a relative were repairing the roof of a business in the 1100 block of Wright Avenue in unincorporated Gretna when, about 9:45 a.m., he fell through a skylight.

He hit the floor inside of the business and died on the scene.

Stop nets $100,000 worth of cocaine

St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies and agents from U.S. Immigrations and Customs enforcement seized approximately $100,000 worth of cocaine and booked two Galveston, Texas-area residents after a traffic stop on Interstate 12 Thursday night, police said.

Salvador Rodriguez and Dinora Estrada were stopped nearly La. 1088 when deputies, aided by a drug-sniffing dog, found five kilograms of cocaine and a .45 caliber handgun in a hidden department in the trunk, Capt. George Bonnett said.

The pair had two children, a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old, in the car with them. The children were placed with the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, Bonnett said.

Both Rodriguez and Estrada were both booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail on counts of possession of schedule II controlled dangerous substance, possession of schedule IV controlled dangerous substance, possession of a stolen firearm, illegal carrying of a weapon during the commission of a crime and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The schedule IV count involved Xanax.

In addition, Rodriguez has been booked on counts of illegal window tint, following too close and driving left of center.

Bail for each one has been set at $500,000, Bonnett said.

The bust likely is the last for Bear, the drug-sniffing dog that assisted in the arrest. The 8-year-old German Shepherd is set to retire next week after having worked with Sheriff’s deputies for six years, Bonnett said.